


Playing Pretend

by MomoKiseki



Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, High School, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Jogress Bonds, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nightmares, Sharing a Bed, daiken
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:47:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27075214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MomoKiseki/pseuds/MomoKiseki
Summary: “Are you serious?” he asked, “Is your class really holding a play?”Honestly, Daisuke had never pictured Ken acting but damn if he wasn’t going to admit that the thought was extremely appealing.“Yes, its all for this end of term celebration, every class is doing something it just so happens mine was told to do the play.” Ken rested his head in his hands, looking rather irritated.------------Or - Ken is forced to be the villain in his school play, but the villain's personality is far too similar to the Kaiser's. Nightmares and Daisuke cuddling ensue.
Relationships: Ichijouji Ken/Motomiya Daisuke | Davis Motomiya
Comments: 17
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

“Wait, wait, wait!”

Ken sighed. He sat in a circle with the other younger chosen children and their Digimon partners, all hanging out in Daisuke’s house for a game’s night. They’d been sharing group stories about how school was going and other things.

Ken’s story, well it resulted in that outburst by Daisuke.

“Are you serious?” he asked, “Is your class really holding a play?”

Honestly, Daisuke had never pictured Ken acting but damn if he wasn’t going to admit that the thought was extremely appealing.

“Yes, its all for this end of term celebration, every class is doing _something_ it just so happens _mine_ was told to do the play.” he rested his head in his hands, looking rather irritated.

“I don’t see why you’re so annoyed by it Ichijouji-kun,” Takeru said, tilting his head in confusion “It’s just a play.”

“Oh, it would be, except the class came to a unanimous decision: I have to play the antagonist,” he groaned “I mean, I certainly don’t mind getting involved in the play but being the bad guy…is not what I expected.”

“Why you?” Iori asked curiously.

“Well, that’s exactly the thing. Nobody gave me a reason…though I suspect it has something to do with how I used to behave back when I was…well…you know…” he picked at the carpet gently “I suppose I just give off the ‘villain’ sort of vibes?”

“It won’t be too bad,” Hikari said with a smile “You’re just acting after all.”

“Yeah, I don’t see the big deal.” Miyako added, while shuffling a deck of cards for their next game.

Ken sighed and then smiled, nodding.

“Yes, I suppose you’re right. I apologise for making such a big deal of it.”

Daisuke shot Ken a worried look, scooting a little bit closer, tapping his best friend’s shoulder.

“You okay?” he whispered.

Ken nodded slowly, brushing some of his hair aside. He would keep up appearances around the others for now, he was staying the night with Daisuke anyway as their hang out was going to last until fairly late at night (Ken had a feeling that was intentional on Daisuke’s half). Daisuke could just ask him about it when the others had left. Thankfully their Jogress allows Daisuke to understand these thoughts and change the focus quickly, so as to not alert their friends to Ken’s concerns.

He pulls Ken closer to the others, gently of course, gesturing for him to get involved in the game.

“Come on!” he smiled widely.

Ken couldn’t help but smile back, feeling Daisuke’s enthusiasm and positivity overwhelming any worries he had. Sure, they would come back later but for now at least, Ken was free to enjoy the rest of the game’s night without much negative distraction.

_Positive_ distractions however…were not so easily ignored.

Mostly because Daisuke himself was a positive distraction.

Ken wasn’t sure when it had started. The staring, the small blushes and the quick, second long smiles.

Ken wasn’t even sure who exactly started first, but no matter who and when it had started it was now a common part of their daily interactions. Usually it would start with something simple, his thoughts would drift to Daisuke and instinctively he’d look over.

Daisuke, of course, would sense the direction Ken’s thoughts had gone in and would look over too. Then they’d both look away, only for one of them to find the courage to look back. Usually this resulted in Ken hiding his blush behind his hair (thank god for long hair), or Daisuke pulling his goggles down and pretending to clean the lenses so he could look down without much suspicion.

And occasionally, just occasionally, the others would comment on their odd behaviour. Daisuke responded with his default reaction, abrasive arguments. Whereas Ken tried his absolute best to manipulate the conversation onto another topic.

It never worked.

So, they both just denied and denied any accusations until whoever was hassling them over it quit for the time being (It was usually Miyako). He was just thankful no one ever used his – the Kaiser’s – strange obsession with Daisuke as fodder for their teasing.

He shot a small glance to Daisuke, watching his smiling face as he played his turn. God, he had no right to look so cute, but he just gave off such a glow, such a warmth that Ken felt like he might melt if he got too close.

Much as the child of Kindness tried to _pretend_ that there was nothing more going on here, it’d been over a year of this behaviour now and he was sure it was only going to get worse. Though he couldn’t fully decide if that was such a bad thing…

“Ichijouji-kun!” Takeru announced, pulling Ken out of his daze “It’s your turn.”

Ken blinked a little, looked down at the cards he was holding then chuckled.

“Oh, sorry, I suppose I zoned out a little.”

Daisuke laughed, so bright and happy. He gently punched Ken, honestly it couldn’t even be counted as a punch it was barely a tap.

“Come on Ken! Play your turn! You have to beat Takeru! He’s winning and I’m completely rubbish at this game!” 

Ken nodded, fighting the blush he was sure was creeping up his neck. Okay…maybe it was a bad thing, because this was driving him absolutely bonkers. Thank goodness it was only this bad when they had sleepovers like this, he had no clue how he could deal with this if it ever started to bleed into the rest of their time together.

Before he could even process what happened the rest of the night was over, the others left with their partners leaving Daisuke and Ken alone. Well, sort of, if you don’t count Minomon and DemiVeemon.

“What do you want to do?” Daisuke asked suddenly “We’ve got a few more games lying around the place.”

“Sounds like fun Motomiya.” Ken replied, smiling.

Daisuke suddenly leaned closer to Ken, a look of curiosity in his eyes.

“Or you can tell me what about the play is bothering you so much.”

“…Its…fairly simple really,” he clasped his hands together, his whole form shaking “I…I don’t want to play that part again.”

“If it bothers you so much, why don’t you just ask someone else in your class to do it?” Daisuke asked, scooting even closer.

“I’d have to explain why and how exactly do I explain that I don’t want to play the villain because I used to be an evil Kaiser trying to take over an alternate world filled with Digital creatures?” Ken replied bluntly “so I can’t, I have to play it…”

“Well…” Daisuke hummed thoughtfully “It’s not like you’re _actually_ playing the Kaiser, right?”

His words rung true, of course Ken wasn’t actually playing the Digimon Kaiser. Ken honestly had no real reason to be so concerned about it…it was just.

“…The character I’m supposed to play is too similar…”

Daisuke huffed irritably, folding his arms.

“Sucks none of us chosen children are in your class,” he muttered “If I were there, I wouldn’t have let you be forced into that!”

Ken giggled a little, unable to resist the smile that crossed his lips. Somehow Daisuke always said the right thing to put a smile on his face.

“Well…Its alright Motomiya, I appreciate the sentiment though.”

Daisuke’s smile returned in an instant, he instantly grabbed a board game out of his drawers and held it out to Ken.

“Come on, we’ll get your mind off of it with a game!”

“Alright, sure” he agreed “But just one, it’s getting late after all.”

Daisuke immediately goes about setting the game up while Ken watches. Of course, Ken knows that this concern about the play wasn’t going to go away but at least, with Daisuke around, it didn’t matter as much. Daisuke, who always seem to say exactly the right thing at exactly the right time to ease all of Ken’s fears.

Soon enough Daisuke pulled Ken closer to him, handing him the dice and gesturing for him to go.

“You take first turn!”

“Don’t we flip a coin to decide this?”

“Nah, you go” Daisuke laughed “Go on, roll the dice already!”

“Alright, alright. I’m doing it!” Ken replied, rolling his eyes at Daisuke’s insistence.

He liked these moments, just between the two of them. Even with the Digimon nearby Ken felt less on edge now. He didn’t have to constantly worry about doing the wrong thing or saying something that would give away his feelings to the others.

It was hiding said feelings from the others that was a struggle, Daisuke was usually easier to keep them from.

After all, it had become quite a skill of Ken’s to keep feelings and thoughts from Daisuke even when they had their Jogress bond, so long as he didn’t get too distracted, he could usually keep Daisuke from sensing them.

“Alright, your move”

Daisuke leaned over, gently taking the dice from Ken’s hand. He lingered in that position – mere centimetres from Ken’s face – for an uncomfortable length of time. Ken looked away, letting his hair cover his face so that Daisuke wouldn’t see how red his cheeks had surely become.

“You okay Ken?”

“W-What? Oh fine! Don’t worry about me Motomiya!”

Daisuke groaned, giving Ken a deadpan stare.

“Why won’t you call me ‘Daisuke’? We’re alone”

Ken huffed, folding his arms.

“I distinctly remember that your sister told us off for making too much noise earlier in the night Motomiya, we are most definitely _not_ alone” he replied, “I would mention Minomon and DemiVeemon but…”

He glanced over; it appeared the two Digimon had fallen asleep.

“They appear otherwise engaged”

Daisuke blinked then seconds later burst out into uncontrollable laughter. Ken’s eyes darted left to right, desperately searching for what he had done? Had he said something funny? Had he done something?

“M-Motomiya…?”

“I’m…I’m sorry Ken!” He replied between laughter “I’ve never seen you pout like that!”

“P-Pout!? Motomiya, I am hardly one to pout!”

Daisuke gently pushed himself up from the floor, wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes.

“Oh, don’t give me that look Ken, it wasn’t an insult”

Ken sighed loudly, running a hand through his hair.

“I’m very aware” he muttered “That doesn’t mean I don’t get to be offended”

Daisuke groaned, looking at Ken like a hurt puppy and god did Ken suddenly feel bad.

“I’m sorry Ken!” Daisuke said sweetly “I didn’t mean to offend you”

“Ugh…Daisuke-”

“Hah! You said my name!” he chuckled, instantly dropping the ‘hurt puppy’ look and scooting right into Ken’s personal space bubble “I knew I could get you to call me Daisuke”

“Was that what this was about?” Ken asked, leaning back a little so they weren’t so close.

“Yeah! God, I just don’t get why you won’t call me Daisuke in front of the others, you call everyone else by their first names”

“ _With_ an honorific - unlike you”

Daisuke groaned loudly.

“What, you want me to call you Ichijouji-Kun?” Daisuke asked before shaking his head with a cheeky smirk “No, wait, you want me to call you Ken-Chan like Minomon does!”

“W-What? No, Motomiya that’s not what I-”

“ _Ken-chan!_ ” Daisuke stretched out the word in joking, cutesy manner.

Ken groaned quietly, covering his face with his hands. God, that was so embarrassing! Daisuke laughed, practically falling on Ken in an attempt to apologetically hug him.

Too close. Too close.

Daisuke pulled away, a frown across his features.

“Ken you okay?” he asked, “You’re hot, do you have a fever?”

Ken shook his head rapidly.

“No, no, no. I’m fine, I’m fine Motomiya!”

“Are you sure?” he pressed his hand against Ken’s forehead, wanting to make sure he was okay.

“Please, don’t worry! I’m fine!” he replied, pulling away.

Too close. Too close. Too close.

Daisuke pulled back hesitantly.

“If you’re sure…” he glanced at the clock and gasped “The heck? Its nearly 2:00 am!”

“What? Motomiya, we should probably get some sleep!”

“Yeah…probably” he muttered, before quickly packing up the game “Do you have to go home in the morning?”

“Hm? I mean it’s the weekend so probably not straight away, but I do have to go home”

“Right…” he chuckled, it sounded kind of forced “I’ll put the game away”

“Alright…”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ken has a nightmare and seeks comfort in the form of Daisuke cuddling.

Daisuke tossed and turned a little, he opened one eye to glance at his alarm clock.

_4:00 am?_

That was weird. Daisuke never woke up at this time of morning unless Ken was having a…

_Crap. Ken!_

Instantly he sat up, his eyes squinting in the dark to see Ken’s face. He had one of those really sick feelings in the pit of his stomach, combined with how fast his heart was going and the abnormal time he’d woken up…Ken must’ve been having a nightmare.

Usually, when this happens, Ken is back in Tamachi and all Daisuke can do is lay awake in bed until Ken wakes up then message him.

The inaction is insanely frustrating but he normally can’t do much about it.

But this time, this time he could do something and he damn well would. He slid out of bed, going over to the futon they had laid out for Ken.

“Ken,” he whispered, gently shaking him “Wake up.”

Such gentle shaking did not help at all it seemed, Ken looked in a panic and was muttering incoherently about something or other. Daisuke frowned before sitting down next to him and brushing part of Ken’s hair aside.

“Ken, you can wake up now. Its just a nightmare.” he whispered, a tiny bit louder this time “It’s not real.”

Ken was in cold sweats, beginning to tremble and whimper as if he were about to start crying. Daisuke bit his lip, he couldn’t stand this, he needed to wake Ken before this got any worse.

“Ken, Ken you need to wake up. Come on, wake up.” he gently patted Ken’s cheek.

The thought of slapping him like he had done when they were younger came to mind…of course, that wasn’t on the top of Daisuke’s ‘ways to wake Ken up’ list. Thankfully, that wasn’t needed because moments later Ken shot up like a bolt. His breathing was erratic and his eyes darted around as if searching for some kind of threat.

“Hey, hey. Breathe Ken,” Daisuke said softly “It’s just a dream.”

Ken’s eyes dart over to Daisuke taking a moment to confirm he was really there and it wasn’t his mind playing tricks on him.

“Daisuke…thank god…”

“You okay?”

Ken didn’t respond, the silence was enough of an indicator that this particular nightmare was going to stick with him for a long while. Daisuke sighed and slid closer to him, pulling him into a hug. Ken was uncomfortable at first, but he slowly relaxed into Daisuke’s hold. Then he began sobbing quietly into Daisuke’s shoulder, clinging to him as if his life depended on it.

No words were spoken for a good ten minutes, Daisuke doing his best to soothe Ken until eventually he spoke up.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Ken inhaled slowly, tightening his grip on Daisuke. He didn’t need to say anything, Daisuke already understood.

“Alright…but you shouldn’t keep it to yourself forever, you’ve never had a nightmare at my place before…” he gently peeled Ken off of him “You think you’ll be able to get back to sleep?”

Ken shook his head slowly, still holding onto Daisuke a little. The chosen of Miracles chuckles quietly before hugging Ken close again.

“Would it help if I stayed next to you?” he asked “We could talk for a bit? Maybe that’ll calm your nerves?”

Ken hummed quietly in response, Daisuke smiled softly and made himself more comfortable before trying to find some kind of conversation topic that didn’t directly involve _what_ exactly Ken had dreamt about.

“I’m amazed the Digimon didn’t wake up,” he said quietly “Guess they were tired don’t you think?”

Ken just nodded silently.

Oh boy, this whole ‘conversation’ thing was really just going to be Daisuke talking to himself wasn’t it? He supposed that wasn’t _bad_ necessarily, but he absolutely hated when Ken was all silent like that. There was way too much room for him to get into a bad thought process…

Daisuke hummed thoughtfully, before smiling a bit wider.

“Hey Ken! You know what we haven’t done in a while?”

Ken looks up a little, a hint of curiosity visible in his eyes.

“We haven’t had a soccer match together in forever!” Daisuke put on his most enthusiastic expression “I know neither of us are _huge_ players anymore, but hell, don’t you think we should have a match sometime?”

Ken took a second before he shrugged and muttered:

“Maybe…”

_Good! He’s talking, that’s better!_

“Yeah, we should get Taichi-San and some of the older kids involved too!”

“What about Hikari-san, Miyako-san, Iori-kun and Takeru-san?”

“Well, Miyako, Hikari and Iori can play if they want,” he huffed a little “Takeru doesn’t need to be invited.”

Ken pushed himself up a little and gently poked Daisuke’s cheek.

“Now, you know you don’t mean that Daisuke.”

“Who says?”

“Okay, let me rephrase that.” Ken cleared his throat “ _I_ know you don’t mean that.”

Daisuke rolled his eyes then laughed.

“Yeah, you’re right. Takeru can play too if he wants, as long as he doesn’t show me up.”

“Exactly why does him showing you up concern you?”

Daisuke shrugged, looking away a little. There was a faint blush visible even in the dark.

“I have people I’m trying to impress, don’t want hat-boy coming in and making me look bad…”

Ken’s eyes darted to the ground, it was moments like these where he wondered if Daisuke meant _him_ or someone else. After all, despite the strange interactions they seem to have its usually Ken who causes them.

Who’s to say Daisuke even feels the same way?

For Ken it’s absolutely infuriating, in literally everything else he could read Daisuke like an open book. But this. The one thing Ken really wants to know…

He can’t tell at all what’s going on in Daisuke’s head.

“I don’t think anyone has ever made you look bad…” Ken muttered.

“Uh…” Daisuke raised an eyebrow in amusement “Ken, have you _seen_ me?! I make _myself_ look bad on a daily basis!”

“That’s absolutely nonsense!” Ken huffed, staring Daisuke down “Silly maybe, but bad? Not at all, honestly, I find your mishaps extremely endearing.”

“…You…find them…endearing?”

Ken blinked, then immediately looked down at his hands, the floor, the pillow. God, anywhere _except_ Daisuke.

Silence.

Daisuke eventually sighed and shifted the topic to something more serious.

“Ken, this nightmare…is the same as the ones you have at home?”

Ken bit his lip before shaking his head, it wasn’t honestly. That’s why it scared him so much, he was pretty well used to the ones he had at home.

“Do you want to tell me anything about it?” Daisuke asked, before gently lifting Ken’s head to meet his gaze “Because I don’t want you dealing with this alone.”

“It’s my problem Daisuke…”

“And that it makes it my problem too,” He replied quickly “We’re a team Ken, we deal with stuff together.”

Ken sighed, looking away again. This time he took in a shaky breath before finally speaking up.

“Y-You were…in it…” he uttered “I…I mean its not the _first_ time you’ve been in one of my nightmares…”

Daisuke nodded, listening. If he really wanted to, he probably could’ve just dug for the answers himself. After all, they were connected but their Jogress also relied on trust and unless he thought Ken was really in trouble. He’d never search for things Ken doesn’t want him to know.

“I just…” Ken started shaking again “Y-You got hurt…in my dream…”

That was about as much as Ken was willing to tell and even though Daisuke could sense there was far more to it than just ‘you got hurt’, he didn’t really feel like pressing the issue. Honestly part of Daisuke was concerned about what sort of nightmare Ken’s brain came up with that involved him…

“Okay, so that explains a few things,” Daisuke put his hand over Ken’s heart “Well, you know I’m okay, right? Not hurt in the slightest.”

“I…I know.”

“So, can you try and get some more sleep Ken?”

Ken frowned hesitantly.

“Ken, I’ll be right there. Not even a meter away.” Daisuke said quickly “You need your sleep, if I know you – and I do – you’ll stay up all night just to stay away from your nightmares and that won’t do you any good.”

Why? Why did Daisuke care so much? Why did Ken get such an amazing, caring and thoughtful person as his Jogress partner? As his best friend…as…well…Ken _wished_ it could be more than that. What strange twist of fate decided that he – Ken Ichijouji, the former Digimon Kaiser – could have Daisuke Motomiya as his teammate?

 _Probably the same one that decided I should have the Crest of Kindness…_ He thought bitterly.

Despite everything, Daisuke had always been there for him. Through every single challenge they’d faced…the least Ken could do was try and go back to sleep.

“Alright, I’ll try…”

Daisuke smiled, nodding thankfully before he went to go stand up and return to his bed. Suddenly though, he felt Ken grab the edge of his pyjama top. He looked back with concern etched on his face. Was something wrong?

“Ken?”

Ken let go and looked up, his eyes struggling to stay locked on Daisuke. He fiddled with the hem of his own top as he tried to form a coherent sentence.

“U-Uhm, D-Daisuke…if its not…too much trouble, could you…” he smiled awkwardly “s-stay with me until I fall asleep?”

_You’re asking too much! He’s already sat here with you for the last half hour at least, talking you down from your nightmare. Why are you asking even more of him? Selfish, selfish, selfish…_

Daisuke stared for a moment before smiling back and nodding.

“Of course, if it’ll help you know I’ll do it!”

Ken smiled weakly, settling back under his blanket.

“I know…that’s what makes you Daisuke…”

_You keep asking too much and he’s too nice to ever tell you ‘no’…_

Daisuke frowned, sensing the negative direction Ken’s thoughts were going in, he laid down next to him.

“Hey Ken?”

“Hm?”

Daisuke gave him a quick, gentle hug. Ken couldn’t help but sigh a little, there was literally no room for negative thinking in that instant. Why was Daisuke so good and making everything feel right again?

“Goodnight”

“Goodnight, Daisuke…”

By the time Ken had finally fallen asleep…Daisuke had been passed out for half an hour. He sleepily cuddled close to Ken. Ken just sighed softly, feeling far more at ease and relaxed than he had been.

At the very least, he wouldn’t be having any more nightmares tonight.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ken wakes up in an awkward position with Daisuke, thank god they're the only humans home.

The first thing Ken noticed upon waking up was how comfortable he felt, so warm and safe.

He cuddled close against something, he thought it was a pillow at first but then he noticed the faint, but familiar pulsing of Daisuke’s heartbeat. Ken’s eyes opened slowly, with a mix of confusion and curiosity in them.

That curiosity turned into terror and embarrassment at a speed that would make Imperialdramon jealous.

He was hugging Daisuke.

Okay. Correction.

_Daisuke_ …was hugging _him._

What should he do? This was too close, way too close!

Daisuke groaned slightly, pulling Ken closer. Seems he sensed Ken’s panic.

“M-Motomiya,” Ken whispers “You’re uhm…hugging me.”

Daisuke opened one eye, staring at Ken tiredly.

“Uh huh,” he muttered “Shh, I’m sleepin’…”

“Motomiya, we should really get up.” Ken replied.

Daisuke groaned again, this time he stared at Ken with the best puppy eyes the tired teen could manage.

“ _Ken…_ ” he dragged out Ken’s name as long as he could “ _I’m sleeping!”_

“Yes. And I’m not. Please, let me go now.” Ken replied calmly as possible.

Daisuke pouted but obliged, pulling away. Ken fought the urge to sigh in relief. He glanced over at his friend who was just staring at the ceiling, barely even properly conscious.

“Did it help?” Daisuke asked quietly.

Ken blinked, before trying to recall what Daisuke meant…then the memory of last night’s nightmare shot through his mind and he frowned, before nodding slowly.

“Yes…it did.”

Daisuke shot him a glance before sitting up and sighing, looking away.

“You don’t seem very happy about it…”

Ken raised an eyebrow.

“Neither do you.”

“Ken, you know me. I’m not happy if you don’t seem happy.”

“Goodness Motomiya, the way you talk, I’m inclined to believe you don’t think about anything _but_ me.” Ken replied jokingly.

Daisuke smirked a little, it was one of those signature smirks that usually meant he had something cheeky in mind.

“Not really, no.”

Ken couldn’t help but turn a deep shade of red when his eyes meant Daisuke’s. He quickly looked away, clearing his throat.

“W-Well, we should probably have breakfast or something…”

Daisuke sighed then stood up. He ran a hand through his hair before going to the door.

“Yeah…” he stopped for a second and smiled at Ken “You can take a shower or something while I get breakfast ready!”

Ken nodded in response, before glancing at the Digimon.

“I’ll see if I can wake these two up first.”

Daisuke glanced at DemiVeemon.

“Oh, watch!” he cleared his throat loudly before stating in an extremely exaggerated tone “ _Oh dear!_ Looks like DemiVeemon is too sleepy for breakfast! Oh well! Guess he misses out!”

In seconds DemiVeemon was up and rushing straight over to Daisuke, as if he’d never been asleep.

“Daisuke! Daisuke!” He shouted “No, no! I’m awake! I’m awake!”

Daisuke chuckled, picking his Digimon Partner up and winking at Ken.

“Maybe try that?”

Ken giggled but shook his head.

“Minomon requires a bit of a calmer approach unless you want bubbles in your face.” Ken stood up and walked over to his still sleeping partner gently shaking him “Minomon, you have to get up, it will be breakfast time soon. Its rude to sleep through breakfast.”

Minomon yawned loudly, rolling around a little before looking up at Ken.

“Good Morning Ken-chan!”

“Good morning.”

Daisuke shook his head in amusement.

“Welp, guess you have it easier Ken! I’m going to go get breakfast started!” Daisuke walked out.

Ken sighed and plopped back against the futon. Minomon bounced over to him before sitting on his chest.

“Ken-chan?” he asked, “You okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine Minomon…just…”

“You’ve got that look on your face again,” Minomon noted, scooting closer “That means you’re thinking about Daisuke, right?”

Ken turned bright red, fighting to keep a straight face as he responded.

“No, no I’m not.”

Minomon giggled.

“You are Ken-chan! That’s what you’re thinking about, your face always turns red when you think about him!”

Ken groaned, looking away.

“Well, yes okay, I’m thinking about him but we’re in his house and all…” he said quickly before adding “Anyway, breakfast soon. I’m going to go have a shower, you should join Motomiya and DemiVeemon okay?”

“Okay!” Minomon said cheerily.

Ken stood up and grabbed his sleepover bag before opening the door for Minomon to bound out. He then quickly shouted:

“Motomiya! Minomon inbound!”

Daisuke laughed from the kitchen and called back:

“Already on high alert, thanks Ken!”

Ken giggled and walked off down the hallway to the bathroom. By now he knew the layout of Daisuke’s apartment almost as well as his own, the number of sleepovers and hangouts they’d had since becoming teammates was almost insane.

Sometimes, it seemed like Daisuke actively searched for reasons for Ken to stay over, not that that particularly bothered him at all. He just found it intriguing. Sometimes he can’t get the thought out of his head that Daisuke may have some ulterior motives for wanting Ken over so much…but he’d rather not get his hopes up.

After all, Daisuke had always been the kind of person to openly expression his affection for his friends. It was nigh impossible to tell whether there was any difference between how he treated Ken…especially since the other Chosen Children hardly ever came up in their private conversations.

Ken gently placed his bag down on the sink, humming in thought.

_That’s odd actually, I’d expect him to at least bring up Hikari-san or Taichi-san fairly often…but now that I think about it, he almost never does…odd…could that mean –_

“No.” Ken said quickly, cutting off his thoughts before they could delve into dangerous territory.

He shook his head a little, before gently patting the side of his face to hopefully dispel those thoughts.

“Don’t assume such things Ken…its selfish to get your hopes up like that…”

He was sure Daisuke didn’t think of him like that and that when the day came that he proved it…Ken didn’t want his hopes so high up. It would ultimately make both him and Daisuke feel terrible and if there was one thing Ken wanted to avoid it was making Daisuke feel bad at all.

He sighed, splashing his face with cold water to try and dismiss the thoughts.

Nope. Not enough.

He glanced at the shower, well, if he was planning to get these thoughts out of his head – or at least stop himself from making the next couple hours he was here awkward – then a warm shower might help.

God knows nothing else was…

\--------------------

“Daisuke! Can we eat now?”

Daisuke shook his head, glancing at his impatient Digimon partner.

“No, we wait for Ken remember?”

Daisuke had heard the shower turn off a couple minutes ago, meaning any second now Ken would be back. It was hardly fun waiting, but at least they didn’t have to worry about hiding the Digimon.

Even though his parents and sister had seen some of the BelialVandemon fight, the idea of Digimon still spooked the heck out of them. Which was reasonable Daisuke supposed, but it led to him continuously hiding his Digimon just so he wouldn’t spook them.

Did it save arguments?

Yes.

Was practical?

Not really.

Was it irritating?

_Very_.

So, thank god that he and Ken had the house to themselves for the moment at least.

“Motomiya!” Ken said cheerfully.

Daisuke’s head instantly turned to face Ken.

“Good timing! Breakfast is ready!” Daisuke replied.

Ken was still drying his hair with a towel and – much to Daisuke’s surprise – his hair didn’t look the slightest bit messy. How that was possible with the sheer amount of hair Ken had…Daisuke had no clue.

“Thank you, Motomiya, it looks lovely. Just give me a moment.”

“Sure, take all the time you need!”

“But I wanna eat, Daisuke!” DemiVeemon grumbled irritably.

“Wait. God, can’t you be patient like Minomon?”

Daisuke’s partner glanced at Minomon, who was, in fact, waiting patiently. He wouldn’t eat without his partner, that was just ridiculous to him. He always loved have breakfast with Ken.

Daisuke’s partner on the other hand…

“I wanna eat. _Please Dai-chan?_ ”

Daisuke rolled his eyes with a groan but eventually gave in and nodded.

“Alright, alright. Go on.”

He heard a familiar chuckle as DemiVeemon dug in. Ken was back and just neatly tying his hair back.

“Seems someone got impatient.”

“Very.”

“You didn’t have to wait for me.” Ken added, tightening the tie before sitting down.

Daisuke stared, god, Ken didn’t put his hair up often but damn if it wasn’t cute as heck…Daisuke had half a mind to ask that Ken wear it up more often.

Wait, Ken said something didn’t he? Crap, what did he say? Daisuke couldn’t remember for the life of him…

_Okay, default response._

“Yeah.”

Ken raised an eyebrow.

“Then why did you?”

_Oh god, I didn’t expect him to ask questions!! Why did I what!?_ He shot a pleading look to Minomon, begging that the tiny Digimon respond for him.

Minomon giggled and spoke up.

“Daisuke didn’t want to start eating without you!” he said cheerfully “I think he likes eating with you!”

Ken smiled softly and Daisuke practically melted on the spot.

“That’s sweet of you Motomiya.”

“Oh, its just…its good manners you know?”

“So it is.” Ken replied.

“Anyway,” Daisuke said, quickly changing the topic “How long can you stay?”

“Hm?” Ken looked up from his food “I’m not sure honestly, its probably better I go home sooner rather than later.”

“Awww, can’t we do _one_ more thing?” Daisuke begged.

Ken gave him a deadpan stare.

“Motomiya Daisuke. Whenever you say, ‘one more thing’ it ends up being two more things, then three, then four, until suddenly its so late in the day that ‘its probably better I stay over’. If I agree to ‘one more thing’ I won’t go home tonight”

Daisuked huffed, pouting and folding his arms.

“That’s not true!”

“It is and you know it.”

Daisuke didn’t bother responding this time, he just huffed loudly again and went back to eating. Ken just smirked.

They ate in silence for a while before Ken spoke up again.

“However,”

Daisuke perked up instantly.

“However…?” He echoed.

“ _If_ it is just one thing. I don’t mind us going out and doing something before I go home.”

Daisuke went over this in his head, alright…he couldn’t pull his tricks to make Ken stay another night. That sucked. _But…_ on the other hand, he could think of a dozen different fun things they could do…it was choosing _one_ that was the issue.

“…Okay, sure. But you’ll have to give me a minute to decide on something!”

“Deal. I’ve still got to help tidy up these dishes after all.”

“What?! No! I can do it!”

“Motomiya, that’s nonsense, let me help”

“No!” Daisuke quickly downed the rest of his breakfast and picked up his bowl and the Digimon’s now _very_ empty bowls “You’re a guest! It’s my job!”

Ken blinked as Daisuke picked up his empty bowl and stormed off to the kitchen. Seems like Daisuke’s mind wasn’t going to change. Ken just shook his head in disbelief.

“Motomiya, you’re utterly infuriating.” He muttered.

“I know I am!” Daisuke replied from the kitchen.

Ken groaned and stood up following him.

“If I were anyone else, I’d probably find you extremely annoying.”

“But you’re _not_ anyone else!” Daisuke said with a cheeky smirk “You’re Ken Ichijouji and Ken Ichijouji finds me ‘Endearing’ apparently!”

Ken squeaked in surprise, covering his mouth instantly.

“M-Motomiya! I was _half asleep_! It isn’t fair to use that comment against me!”

Daisuke chuckled, winking at him.

“But Ken, when you’re half asleep you _actually_ speak your mind for once and apparently, ‘my mishaps are extremely endearing’,” he recited “I find it sweet that you think that.”

Ken groaned loudly.

“Of course you would…”

“Anyway Ken, you go sit down!” Daisuke insisted “I’ll finish cleaning up and then we can head off to do…uh something, I haven’t decided yet!”

“Well decide quickly Motomiya!” Ken retorted “You have an inexplicable ability to drag out activities to an obnoxious amount and I don’t you intend to do that today too, so we need plenty of time!”

“I wouldn’t do that Ken.”

“Motomiya…why do even bother trying to lie to me?” Ken asked bluntly “You know I can tell right?”

“Yup! But our little spats are fun!”

“Of course they are…” Ken replied, a hint of understanding in his voice.

So _that’s_ why Daisuke often started conversations like this…

Ken sighed and walked back over to the table to sit down and wait, now his mind was going to be thinking of every occasion where Daisuke started this kind of conversation for the rest of the day…goodness. He wasn’t going to be able to stop thinking about Daisuke was he?

“Wonderful” he muttered, the clear head from his warm shower was long gone now.

This was going to be a _long_ day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ken finally heads back to Tamachi but can't get the 'bed sharing' incident out of his head, meanwhile some Daisuke angst happens.

Ken almost collapsed on his bed the instant he got to his room; he hadn’t relaxed for a single moment that he’d been with Daisuke so having some time to relax was much appreciated.

He’d probably talk to his mother about Daisuke coming over… _after_ he’d recovered from the early morning interaction, he’d had with him. Because he still hadn’t recovered. The memory of Daisuke hugging him close stayed firmly lodged in his mind.

Daisuke’s unwillingness to let him go was also permanently etched in his memory. Ken rested a hand over his heart, closing his eyes. There was also waking up feeling Daisuke’s heartbeat.

God it was infuriating. Of course, at the same time it was absolutely beautiful. Ken would have loved nothing more than to just remain next to Daisuke, feeling the pulsing of his heartbeat and relaxing into his hold.

He couldn’t stand the thoughts; he couldn’t stand wanting it so badly…

“Daisuke…” he whispered, staring at the ceiling.

“Ken-chan?” Minomon asked, jumping on the teen’s chest again “What’s wrong? You seem sad, that’s happening a lot lately. Did Daisuke upset you?”

“No…Daisuke didn’t upset me; he could never upset me…”

“Then why are you all sad while you’re thinking about him?”

“Its…complicated Minomon…”

“Well…I don’t mind listening. I like it when you explain things to me!” Minomon replied.

Ken sighed and sat up, resting his back against the wall and letting Minomon sit in his lap.

“Where do I even begin…?” he muttered “Well…the easiest way to put it is…Daisuke and I, we’re really close. Always have been, especially we first Jogressed. We really understand each other you know? For a while, that was enough but…”

“But…?”

Ken sighed, looking away.

“Its no longer enough for me. I want to be more than just teammates, just friends. I want us to be closer than we are…”

Minomon hummed thoughtfully as he tried to understand what Ken meant.

“But why can’t you be?”

“Because its not that simple, he’d have to want that too and I don’t think he does…”

“Why don’t you ask him?”

“Because, if he doesn’t want it you have no idea the kind of situation asking him would create…its better I just pretend I don’t feel this way.”

Minomon nuzzled Ken’s cheek, trying to cheer his partner up.

“I’m sure things will work out Ken-chan!”

Ken giggled softly.

“Thank you Minomon, but you shouldn’t talk about this to anyone okay? Human or Digimon, it’ll give me a lot of things to explain.”

“Okay, if you want.”

Ken smiled, before sighing softly again as he recalled this morning’s incident. Awkward and uncomfortable it may have been afterwards, for that split second after he woken up, he’d felt more at peace than he had in a long time.

Like nothing in the world could bother him in that moment.

_Still, its selfish of me to want something like that. I wouldn’t want to make Daisuke feel uncomfortable…_

God knows Daisuke would do just about anything for him, no matter if it made him uncomfortable. Case in point: Daisuke’s offer.

Just before Ken had left for Tamachi Daisuke suggested they should catch up once he has the script for this play, then he could help Ken practice. The thing is if Ken felt uncomfortable about playing a character so eerily similar to the Kaiser, surely Daisuke would feel even more uncomfortable considering some of the stuff the Kaiser put him through.

But damn, Ken just couldn’t say no to that expression.

Ken couldn’t help but let out a low laugh, of course, Daisuke would do anything for him and he’d do anything for Daisuke.

“I need to go talk to Mama about Daisuke coming over on the weekend.” He slowly climbed down the ladder on his bed while smiling at Minomon “You wait here okay?”

Minomon nodded before bounding over to Ken’s pillow and getting comfortable on it. Seems the poor little Digimon was tired after today’s arcade trip. It was no wonder, the two Digimon had spent the entire time running amok.

Ken walked out to see his mother standing in the kitchen cleaning up.

“Mama?”

“Oh, hello Ken!” She smiled “I thought maybe you had fallen asleep, you seemed tired when you got home.”

“Oh, a little but I’m alright.”

_Although now that I think about it, a nap might do me some good…_

Ken shook his head and refocused his attention.

“Mama, um…I was wondering…Motomiya Daisuke offered to help me practice for that play I told you about and I was hoping he could sleep over on the weekend?”

She smiled widely, nodding.

“Of course, Ken! Daisuke-kun is always welcome here. He’s been a really great friend for you.”

Ken nodded, his expression dropping a little.

“Yes…I know.”

‘Great friend’. Ken wished they could more than just ‘great friends’.

“Thank you Mama, I think I’ll let him know now…” he chuckled weakly “And you had the right idea, I think I need a nap to clear my head.”

“Sleep is medicine for the brain after all.” She replied, “You’ll wake up nice and refreshed, don’t worry, I’ll wake you up if you sleep too long.”

“Thank you, Mama!”

Ken walked back off to his room, deciding to just send a message instead of calling. Calling might mean they don’t stop talking for another hour…

_‘Mama says its fine for you to come over on the weekend.’_

It was as if Daisuke had been just waiting for that message because he responded lightning fast.

_‘Awesome! Maybe we could leave the Digimon in the Digital World so you don’t get all awkward around them? Would that be more comfortable?’_

Ken hummed in thought.

_‘Yes actually. That’s a good idea’_

_‘It’s a plan then!’_

_‘Glad you’re excited’_

_‘Of course I am, I get to hang with you!’_

Ken giggled a little in response, of course that was why. That was _always_ the reason he gave…while he was typing a response a new message came in.

_‘Sorry Ken, mum just got home, she’s calling me about something or other. Talk later!’_

Ken frowned but relented, knowing Daisuke probably wouldn’t see any message he sent for a long while. He erased the beginnings of his initial message and replaced it with a simple:

_‘Okay, talk to you soon then’_

Ken sighed, climbing back up onto his bed. There was Minomon now fast asleep. Ken smiled a little, moving cautiously so as not to wake his Digimon partner up. He laid down on his bed, staring at the ceiling again.

Some sleep would hopefully clear any thoughts of Daisuke from his mind for the time being, he didn’t need to be thinking about this bed sharing incident for the rest of the day after all. Hopefully, he would soon be able to pretend that it never happened at all.

\-------------------------------

“Is Ichijouji-kun already gone?” Daisuke’s mother asked curiously “I was hoping to say goodbye to him.”

Daisuke fought the urge to roll his eyes and just nodded.

“Yeah, Ken had to go back to Tamachi.”

“Shame. I hope you treated him well this morning, he’s a guest after all.” His mother walked off to the kitchen.

Daisuke narrowed his eyes a little, what exactly did she mean by that? Of course, he treated Ken well, Ken is literally the best thing that ever happened to him so of bloody course Daisuke would treat him well.

“Yeah, yeah.” Daisuke muttered “I made breakfast and cleaned up.”

“Good.” She huffed “He’s a very good friend to have, so you’d had better do your best to stay friends.”

Daisuke fought back his groan. Of course, that’s where this was going. Sometimes he wondered if any time passed at all for his parents, after all he and Ken had been friends for _years_ now. It was pretty unlikely their friendship would just suddenly fall apart.

One of the main reasons being that their hearts are literally connected, which Daisuke would _explain_ if his parents were willing to hear about anything Digimon or Digital World related.

But of course… _they aren’t._

Besides all that, he was certain his family didn’t like Ken for _any_ of the same reasons Daisuke liked Ken.

“Don’t worry mum, Ken and I have been friends since I was eleven, I think we’re good.”

“You say that, but who knows what the future holds?”

Daisuke grumbled, opening the fridge and pouring himself some juice. He was really struggling to keep his temper under control, he’d gotten better at it over the years but usually he relied on Ken’s calming energy to keep him cool.

But if the slow beat of their synched hearts was any proof, Ken was probably asleep and the last thing Daisuke wanted to do was wake Ken up with his stupid, hard to manage temper. Ken didn’t deserve such a rude awakening.

“Yeah whatever, I think we’re fine mum.” Then he remembered his messages with Ken and spoke up again “On the topic of Ken though, I was going to sleepover at his place on the weekend. I’m helping him with something.”

“What for?” His mother asked, genuinely shocked.

“It’s just school stuff.”

_Don’t say what you’re thinking mum, really don’t say it._ He begged internally.

If the expression on her face was any evidence, she was extremely shocked that Daisuke was helping Ken with school stuff. He was willing her motherly intuition or whatever the heck it was to kick in so she didn’t say anything.

Unfortunately for Daisuke, he probably didn’t will hard enough.

“Why are you helping Ichijouji-kun with school stuff?” she asked bluntly “You barely even got passing grades this year.”

Daisuke bit his lip, then gulped down at least half his juice before finally speaking up again.

“Its nothing grades related mum…” he muttered “Just a play.”

“And what do you know about acting?”

“Nothing really but that’s no-”

She didn’t let him finish.

“How come you’re helping him with something you don’t even know anything about?”

“…What? Worried that just because I’m involved, he’ll suddenly do badly?” Daisuke hissed, his mouth moving long before his brain could catch up.

“I just don’t want you making this hard for Ichijouji-kun.”

“Mum, my god, why do you think everything I do is going to get all messed up?”

“Daisuke-”

“Did you forget that I literally helped save _two worlds_?”

“You know what I’ve told you about all that…’Digimons’ business…”

“Yeah, yeah. We don’t talk about it. Why not? Ken’s parents are chill with it, they get him to tell stories and let his partner sit up the table for dinner.” Daisuke couldn’t stop now; his anger had thoroughly boiled over “My partner hardly even gets to be outside my room when you’re home. Is it cause Digimon scare you? Or do you just not want to admit that _I_ was the leader of something?”

He doesn’t even let her open her mouth before he storms off, thankfully able to stop himself before he started anything else. He slammed the door to his room shut behind him, not even bothering to turn on the light in the nearly pitch-black room.

What time was it now?

Did it even matter?

He sunk down and leaned against his door before burying his head in his arms. He tried his best to fight back the emotions that he needed to vent in some way. Back then when the Digital World was nigh constantly in danger, Daisuke would vent his emotions in fights. With passion and – maybe a little too much – aggression.

Then shortly after the fights dropped to almost zero, shortly after BelialVandemon’s defeat, he vented it in soccer. But now that he hardly plays anymore. Now that the Digital World almost never needs defending (not that he didn’t suspect that would change, he just had no clue when).

Well, now he had no way to vent his frustrations anymore. Talking to Ken helped sometimes, but honestly, he’d rather not push his problems onto Ken. God knows Ken has enough of his own. Not that Daisuke often got a choice in whether he shared his issues, Ken would go on a tangent if he didn’t because it was ‘hypocritical’ which Daisuke supposed was true.

Ken would always insist that if he had to share his problems with Daisuke then Daisuke had to share his problems with him.

Fair?

Yes.

Did Daisuke like it?

No. Not in the slightest.

For now though, Ken was still asleep if Daisuke was right. So he would have no comfort at all. Not even from his partner who was sound asleep if the snoring was anything to go by…he just had to deal with this.

He’d done it before after all.

\----------------------------------

It was not even an hour after he’d fallen asleep that Ken woke up with a start, a surge of mixed emotions running through him, he and Daisuke’s shared heartbeat thrumming rapidly in his chest.

Minomon looked up, a concerned expression etched on the little Digimon’s face.

“Ken-chan? Are you alright?”

Ken nodded slowly as he took a few deep breaths.

“Yes, yes I’m fine.”

“Then why are you crying?”

“Crying…?”

Ken blinked in confusion, finally he noticed the strange wetness streaming down his cheeks. He wiped the tears from his eyes in confusion. Those weren’t his tears, he wasn’t upset. No in fact, he’d slept rather peacefully aside from the sudden start.

But if he closed his eyes, he could feel it, the faint throb of hurt echoing behind the veil of Ken’s own emotions. He frowned, wiping more of the uncontrollable tears from his eyes.

That’s why their hearts were beating so fast, that’s why he was crying.

It was Daisuke.

Daisuke was crying.

Ken shuffled out of bed uncomfortably quickly, messaging Daisuke right away.

_‘Are you alright?’_

He waited, staring at the screen for god knows how long before a response finally came in.

_‘Fine.’_

“Liar.” Ken muttered and replied as such.

_‘You’re lying.’_

_‘Whatever, it doesn’t matter Ken. I’m fine.’_

Ken huffed and instantly rung up Daisuke’s phone, waiting patiently. He wasn’t surprised when Daisuke immediately defended himself.

_“I’m alright Ken”_

Ken could hear the hurt in Daisuke’s voice, whatever had happened wasn’t just going to go away.

“Daisuke.” He whispered “You’re not alright. Talk to me, please?”

_“It’s nothing, really. I’m fine. Stop worrying.”_

“You realise that’s impossible right?” Ken asked sadly “I can feel it Daisuke, I know you’re hurting so talk to me.”

Daisuke didn’t respond for a good long while, Ken was almost inclined to believe he’d hung up but no, there was faint, ragged breathing coming from the other end of the line. Likely as not, Daisuke was still trying not to cry.

_“…I’ll talk to you about it later…maybe when we catch up on the weekend…I…”_

“Alright fine, you need some time to yourself, fair enough.” Ken replied “…just…call me if you need anything Daisuke, you know I’m right here.”

_“…I know, thanks Ken.”_

Daisuke hung up before Ken could respond. Ken frowned; he would need to insist Daisuke talk about this when they caught up. It would be far too much like him to just pretend it never happened…

He groaned as a realisation hit him.

That was _exactly_ what Ken was doing.

Sure, it was a different situation but it seemed like he and Daisuke couldn’t help but constantly pretend things were different. Act like certain conversations never happened, act like certain incidents never happened.

Ken for one was always pretending his feelings for Daisuke didn’t exist.

If they were supposed to be so in sync, why were they so damn good at keeping things from each other?

“…problems for another day I suppose…” Ken sighed.

He could try and ignore it but the faint hurt that throbbed in sync with his heartbeat wouldn’t disappear easily…he would likely be dealing with it for the rest of the week.

Ken was fairly certain he could handle it.

His greatest concern was if Daisuke could.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week of hardly speaking to each other and constantly having the other on their minds leaves Daisuke and Ken as extremely emotionally constipated teens. Daisuke just can't take it any longer...

Okay, Daisuke couldn’t take this.

Since their phone call a week ago, he and Ken had hardly spoken. They hadn’t even had an argument; Daisuke was just didn’t want to talk about his problems.

If they _had_ had an argument, Daisuke sure as hell couldn’t remember what it was about…

Thank god it was finally the weekend and Daisuke was going to get to stay at Ken’s place, hopefully helping Ken become more comfortable in his role in that play would help them stop being so bloody awkward.

The worst part wasn’t even the lack of communication.

It was the fact that he _knew_ Ken was thinking about him.

Ken hadn’t stopped thinking about him for the entire week. It was driving Daisuke up the wall. Not because he didn’t want Ken thinking about him, in fact, he kinda loved being the only thing on Ken’s mind. No, it was driving him so crazy because whenever Ken thought about him Daisuke could feel their heartbeats pick up.

And he could never tell if he’d caused it or if Ken had.

Mostly because he hadn’t stopped thinking about Ken all week either and he was fairly damn certain Ken knew that too.

The whole situation was infuriating on so many levels.

A few that Daisuke didn’t even know how to explain. Finally, after a bit of internal grumbling he realised he’d been standing outside Ken’s front door for…well ages. He cleared his throat and knocked.

The door immediately opened and there was Ken.

“Motomiya, glad you could make it!” he seemed cheerful enough…of course, the smile and cheerful tone couldn’t disguise the underlying nervousness Daisuke could sense.

“Of course I was going to make it Ken, I’ve literally been looking forward to it all week!” Daisuke walked inside and waved at Mrs. Ichijouji, who offered a tray of biscuits.

“Want some Daisuke-kun?”

“Thanks Mrs. Ichijouji!” He grabbed one with a huge smile munching on it quickly.

Ken rolled his eyes.

“Motomiya…”

“Oh! Did you get the script Ken?” Daisuke asked, that’s it, just pretend that nothing happened.

That is how this works after all.

Shame that pretending is difficult when Daisuke literally can’t help but lean into Ken’s personal space, not that Ken minded all too much. Ken nodded slowly.

“Uh, yes I did.”

“Sweet!” Daisuke grabbed Ken’s arm and pulled him towards his room.

“You boys have fun!” Mrs. Ichijouji called after them “Don’t break anything!”

“We won’t Mama!” Ken called back, before shooting Daisuke a look “You can stop dragging me now!”

Daisuke let go and pushed the door open, gesturing for Ken to go in.

“After you!”

“This is my place Motomiya, I’m the one supposed to be doing stuff for you. You’re the guest.”

Daisuke pouted, moving behind Ken and gently shoving him into his room.

“Don’t care.”

Ken sighed, glancing back at Daisuke as he shut the door. Now was as good a time as any to ask about what happened earlier in the week.

“Motomiya. I wanted to talk about…earlier in the week?” he started slowly “Are you okay…? What happened?”

Daisuke went quiet, not even looking in Ken’s direction.

“Nothing. I’m fine now.”

He sounded far from fine, he turned his eyes scanning the room before they fell upon what looked to be the script on Ken’s desk.

“Lets just get started with practicing okay?”

Ken groaned but decided to play along for now, he’d get Daisuke to talk about it. If it came down to him physically not letting Daisuke move unless he did. For now, though, he should get some practice in.

“Alright.” Ken walked over and picked up the script “S-So uh…I’ve…done a little practice by myself…and well, with Minomon…w-watching but um…I-I don’t know how I sound at all…or…you know…if I feel comfortable with any of this…”

Daisuke smiled softly.

“Don’t worry Ken, you’ll be great!”

Ken sighed.

“You have too much faith in me.”

“You don’t have enough faith in yourself. Let’s here one of the lines, _please_?”

Ken cleared his throat.

“Alright b-but…it might sound strange without the context…”

“Well, read the context first then.”

Ken scanned over the script before taking a slow, deep breath. Trying to calm his racing heart. Thankfully he noticed Daisuke doing the same, though Daisuke was clearly less nervous than Ken was…the effort was appreciated and highly effective.

He whispered a thank you before finally getting on with it.

“A-Alright…so u-um. This is when the hero first meets the uh…villain. He’s been caught in a trap, and since th-this is early in the play he’s really outmatched.”

Daisuke nodded listening closely, why was this familiar to him?

“T-That’s when he sees the villain, who’s done numerous bad things already…and uh…well…asks who he is…and demands to be released…”

Oh yeah, _this_ was familiar. No wonder Ken was uncomfortable, as if by some wicked twist of fate this seemed fairly similar to their first encounter in the Digital World…

“Okay, so…how does the villain respond?”

Ken inhaled slowly then tried to put on his ‘best’ villain voice. Really, he was trying everything in his power not to immediately go to his default bad guy voice…which…was the Kaiser’s…

“I hardly-” crap, his voice cracked literally straight away. He shot Daisuke an apologetic look.

Daisuke just smiled, gesturing for him to keep going. While he waited for Ken to start again, he sat down legs crossed, staring up at Ken with the most wide and innocent eyes, giving his undivided attention.

That made Ken feel a little better.

And a little worse if that were possible.

“…I hardly t-think you’re in the position…to make demands…” Ken muttered, almost inaudibly.

Daisuke rolled his eyes.

“It’s just us in here okay Ken?”

“Mama is in the next room.”

“Yeah and she isn’t just gonna come barging in. Long as you’re not screaming the lines at the top of your lungs, I don’t think she’ll hear you.” Daisuke sighed.

“Al-Alright…”

“Take your time though.” Daisuke said quietly. He didn’t need to speak anything else Ken could understand what he was thinking.

Ken sighed and nodded.

“It’s just…y-you’ve noticed right? H-How…”

“How similar this is to how we first met?” Daisuke finished “Yeah, I have. Inexperienced hero caught in a trap, villain taunting him. Yeah…the similarities aren’t lost on me.”

“…Y-You sound s-so c-calm…M-Motomiya…how are you s-so calm about this?” Ken asked, tears starting to fill his eyes.

Daisuke could feel their synched heartbeats starting to drum in his chest, he could feel Ken’s panic rising, threatening to overwhelm Daisuke’s own emotions. He stood up, gently putting a hand on Ken’s shoulder.

“Hey, hey breathe Ken.”

Ken was a trembling mess; his hands gripped the script until it looked like it might tear from the sheer intensity of his hold. He subconsciously leaned into Daisuke, seeking comfort which Daisuke was more than willing to give. He gently pulled Ken closer, rubbing the taller teen’s back gently.

“Okay Ken, breathe. You’re going to make yourself sick like this.” Daisuke waited until their hearts slowed down a little before he finally spoke up again “Okay, talk to me.”

“…I…you’re so calm…why doesn’t this bother you? B-Because, I-I look at this and I keep imagining…I keep…”

“You keep seeing me tied against that cliff again, right? With the Kaiser taunting me?”

Ken nodded rapidly and buried his head into Daisuke’s shoulder.

“…I don’t want to be like that…”

“You aren’t. That was years ago Ken.” Daisuke said calmly, pulling away to meet Ken’s eyes “We were eleven years old Ken, we’re not eleven anymore. You’re not the Kaiser anymore, you’re Ken Ichijouji and this whole ‘play’ thing…it doesn’t bother me. Yeah, its weirdly similar to our first meeting but it doesn’t bug me.”

Ken stared at him quietly.

“I know you can do this, you’re amazing Ken, show me what you got.”

“…I…I don’t know if I can…”

“Ken, I know you can.” Daisuke smiled widely “Ken…do you trust me?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, I know what you were doing before, trying not to sound the Kaiser…”

“…”

Ken blinked, looking away. Daisuke just chuckled, gently pushing the script closer to him.

“Just once. For me. Try…not stopping that. If you feel like it sounds right in the Kaiser’s voice, try it.”

“M-Motomiya…”

“Just once. Then never again if it makes you uncomfortable” Daisuke sat back down, looking up with a smile “Go on Ken.”

Ken inhaled slowly. Just once. For Daisuke…He cleared his throat and attempted to read the line again.

“I…I hardly think you’re in a position to make demands.” He did his best not to fight how his voice instinctively lowered into the familiar darker decibels of the Kaiser, he winced as soon as he finished the sentence. Not even meeting Daisuke’s eyes.

Daisuke was just staring, mouth agape.

“Woah Ken…nice!”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah! You’re still nervous, but if you were like properly acting, I think I might actually get scared!”

“Is uh…that a good thing?”

“Yeah!” Daisuke stood up, “if you’re playing the villain then giving the audience goose bumps is exactly what you’re supposed to be doing!”

He practically jumped up and down on the spot, far too excited. Ken giggled a little.

“Alright, alright. Stop jumping, Mama will think you’re knocking something over.”

Daisuke nodded then smiled.

“Keep going!”

Ken rolled his eyes, scanned through the script a little.

“Alright…” he inhaled slowly “So the hero just makes some comment about the villain being scared.”

“Oh my god, that sounds like me!” Daisuke replied, laughing before he cleared his throat “What too scared to fight me so you tied me up? You must be one hell of a coward!”

Ken laughed, feeling his nervousness fading. Daisuke somehow managed to calm him down completely. Sure, that wasn’t actually the line the hero said but everything Daisuke said sounded better anyway. Ken instantly put on his villain act, getting a bit more into it.

“ _Scared…?_ ” he narrowed his eyes a little before forcing out an attempt at a menacing laugh.

It…wasn’t amazing, but Daisuke didn’t seem to mind. It seemed to suffice, if his shuddering was any proof.

“Scared of you? Hardly, that’s a ridiculous notion.” Ken recited, keeping as cold an expression as he could.

Which wasn’t easy, what with Daisuke just staring at him with an insane amount of sparkle in his chocolate brown orbs. Ken honestly found himself far too distracted to keep up the act, he had to play it off as rolling his eyes at the ‘hero’ he was imagining in Daisuke’s place.

“I just don’t see why I should waste my time with an insect like you.”

Ken flinched…okay, that one hit a bit too close.

“Ken you okay?”

“Uhm…perhaps we…should…s-stop practicing for now?”

“Sure, if you want. This is all about helping you be comfortable with it.” Daisuke smiled sweetly “Just so you know though, you did awesome!”

“T-Thank you…”

Daisuke took the script from Ken’s hands gently and walked over to the teen’s desk to put it down, carefully flattening out the creases from Ken’s earlier panic.

“Now, we can just chill for the rest of our sleepover!”

Ken was about to agree but instead he walked a bit closer to Daisuke.

“Motomiya, you still haven’t told me about what happened earlier in the week.”

“Its nothing…” Daisuke doesn’t even look at him.

Ken huffed, multiple ideas running through his mind about how he could make Daisuke talk about this. He knew Daisuke would explode at the first thing that mildly irritated him if he didn’t get whatever happened that night out of his system.

While Ken was busy thinking about this, he noticed Daisuke was trying sneak off, probably to avoid the conversation that really _needed_ to happen. He reacted on the first thought that came to mind, he closed the distance between him and Daisuke, practically pinning him to the bedroom wall. Much to Daisuke’s surprise.

“Ken…?”

Ken glared him down, while Daisuke could easily have just ducked under Ken’s arms and fled but just the look in Ken’s eyes had him paralysed.

“Motomiya, what. Happened? I’m not going to let you keep this to yourself!” 

Daisuke stared at Ken, meeting his blue-violet eyes that were shimmering with concern. Damn it, they were way too close. He couldn’t stand it…

“Talk to me…please.”

Daisuke willed Ken to back away because _damn_ this was too much. Too much…he started to tremble; he was sure Ken was beginning to sense the feelings if the red dusting his face meant anything.

Daisuke could feel the nervousness rising inside him again. Like how it had been back after their uh…’bed sharing’ incident. The incident that Daisuke hadn’t been able to get out of his head.

Just remembering how right it felt hugging Ken close like that. He just wanted to be close to Ken, though this isn’t quite what he meant…he had no clue that he’d been silently staring at Ken for an uncomfortable amount of time until he saw Ken’s mouth move.

Clearly the taller teen was speaking, but it came across as blurred nothing to Daisuke. He couldn’t stop staring and wondering if he could just…

He’d had frustration after frustration in this last week and no way to vent it, he had just wanted to hug Ken close until the irritation went away. Though he wasn’t even sure that would be enough at this point…

Ken’s voice came across again, a little clearer than before but he really only understood one word:

Daisuke.

That’s all it took for that small hint of self-control poor Daisuke had to _snap._

He charged forward, much to Ken’s apparent surprise and captured his lips in a kiss.

 _What is Daisuke doing?!_ Ken thought in a panic.

Those thoughts were rapidly drowned out by how damn good this felt, as Daisuke deepened the kiss and let out a faint moan. God it was turning Ken’s brain to mush. The way Daisuke was acting, it was as if he’d been starved of affection…

Daisuke suddenly didn’t seem to care that Ken’s mother was in the other room, or that this was likely going to cause more awkward situations in the very near future. Instead, Daisuke was laser focused on Ken and how desperately he needed this moment.

He somehow managed to switch them around, so now he was the one pinning Ken to the wall. Ken had no idea how that had even happened! This whole situation was confusing, one moment he has Daisuke pinned and was planning to make him talk about what was bugging him and the next moment _Daisuke_ has _Ken_ pinned and is _kissing him_.

Now, as much as Ken was loving this – it was a fantasy of his coming true after all – he really… _they_ really couldn’t be doing this. _Especially not here._

Ken pulled away, startled by Daisuke whining in protest. Damn, that was cute…

“D-Daisuke,” He started as calmly as he could “Mama is in the next room…w-what if she comes to check on us?”

There was a second question, layered carefully underneath the first. Daisuke didn’t answer either one, instead he pushed back against Ken going in for another kiss. This time it was far more desperate, far needier. He didn’t want to think about either question, because doing so would mean acknowledging what he was actually doing right now. It would mean acknowledging that Ken probably didn’t want this at all…and was probably too nice to say it.

And Daisuke never wanted to acknowledge that…it would probably break his heart.

Ken however…tried desperately not to moan, because _damn_ was he enjoying this. He needed to think rationally, there were _so_ many reasons they really couldn’t be doing this, least of all that Ken’s mother was in the next room.

It was more because this was exactly what Ken had been wanting for so long and if this meant nothing…well…he didn’t think he could stand it. He just wanted to sweep his feelings under the rug so he didn’t get hurt and this was going to make it impossible.

But of course, Ken _couldn’t_ think rationally. There were too many feelings churning inside him, most of them Daisuke’s.

 _Daisuke’s_ want. _Daisuke’s_ need.

Crap, Ken just couldn’t think of anything _but_ Daisuke, his emotions were too overpowering, too intense. Ken knew he had to separate himself from Daisuke’s emotions, it was something he often had to do when Daisuke got particularly angry.

After all, if he got angry because of Daisuke’s anger everything would end up a mess. But damn was it hard to try and separate himself when everything was _Daisuke._ When every rational thought he had was being drowned out by Daisuke’s desires.

Ken did the first thing he could manage to think of, he tried to shove Daisuke back.

It had never been intended to hurt him, or to upset him. Just to break their contact so Ken could think properly…

However, he pushed a little too hard and Daisuke ended up landing on the ground with a loud ‘thud’.

Daisuke shook his head a little, Ken sighed in relief and sunk down till he was sitting on the floor with his head resting against the wall. Daisuke inhaled slowly, regrets building up inside him as he stared at Ken’s face.

“…K-Ken…I…” crap, what does he even say to excuse this?? He probably shouldn’t even bother…what kind of friend was he…?

Ken just shook his head, he stood up and walked to the door. Words were unnecessary. After all, Ken’s behaviour practically screamed that he needed some space.

Daisuke stared down at the floor; what kind of friend does that? He was supposed to keep these feelings to himself, he didn’t realise their week of minimal contact would get to him so badly…

He would have to talk to Ken about this…if Ken actually _wanted_ to talk to him...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So....this happened....Uh...I swear I didn't intend for it to go that way but uh...I guess Ken and Daisuke decided otherwise. Uh...I think I'm going to update those tags...to what, I'm not sure yet, I don't exactly know what 'this' whole thing is XD


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ken would like nothing more than to pretend that nothing had happened while he and Daisuke were alone. Daisuke wishes he knew what the hell he should say to Ken about it...

Ken pulled his blanket up over his head, he was facing his bedroom wall trying desperately to fall asleep but his mind just kept repeating the events of earlier in the day.

From the awkward dinner where no one except Ken’s mother said anything, to their eventual bedtime where they both uttered ‘good night’ before going silent. Plus how Daisuke had apparently cut Ken off from his emotions so Ken had no clue how Daisuke actually felt about this whole mess.

Despite that, Daisuke’s feelings during that moment remained permanently lodged in Ken’s mind. The need, the desire, the hope that the moment wouldn’t end…

Ken wished it hadn’t either but his logical side adamantly insisted that they _could not_ be doing things like that.

He shifted a little in his bed, turning his head a little to glance behind him. There was a shadow on the opposite wall, moving slightly. Was Daisuke awake? Ken scooted closer to the edge of his bed too look over the edge.

Seems like he was. He was curled up on the futon, D-Terminal out and typing…was he messaging one of the other Chosen Children? Ken frowned slightly, who would he be messaging at – he quickly pulled out his own D-Terminal to check – 1:00am?

Daisuke eventually let out a small sigh, muttering to himself.

“Uhm…M-Motomiya?” Ken asked quietly “Are you still awake?”

“Oh…uh yeah…” He responded in almost a whisper “Just can’t sleep is all”

_I’m not surprised neither can I, not after all that…_

“Why are you still awake?” Daisuke asked slowly.

“Uhm…” Ken’s face turned bright red, the image of Daisuke pinning him to the wall and kissing him flashed through his mind “U-Uh, n-nightmares…”

That was as good an excuse as any.

…Of course, Ken wasn’t thinking _quite_ clearly enough to realise that saying he’d had a nightmare would instantly have Daisuke in a panic.

“A nightmare?” Daisuke sat up “You want to talk about it? We can talk about it if you want! If you don’t feel like talking about it, I can come sit with you till you fall asleep again?”

Oh god, Daisuke did _not_ know how badly Ken would love to just fall asleep next to him again.

“Uhm…no…its fine…”

Daisuke huffed, folding his arms.

“I can come up if you want, it’s not a problem.”

“Its fine I don’t…” Ken trailed off. He couldn’t bring himself to say he didn’t want Daisuke to come up…that was a lie that Daisuke would likely see right through anyway… “Its fine, it wasn’t a bad one…I’ll…I’ll go back to sleep now…”

Ken instantly rolled over and pulled the blanket over his head again.

“…If you’re sure…” Daisuke muttered.

Ken heard a soft sigh, then everything went silent. That was how this worked after all. They didn’t talk about it. About anything. No matter what happened…

No matter how much Ken wants to…

\-------------

“…Okay, one last time for clarity because – despite the fact I know you _really_ well Daisuke – I kinda can’t believe you…” Taichi groaned “You…did _what_ …?”

Daisuke sighed, after the whole… ‘incident’ he’d needed _someone_ to talk to, some to ask for advice and the only person he trusted with what had happened was Taichi. So, he’d messaged the older chosen child that night and Taichi, to his credit, was fully eager to sit up till god knows what hour of the morning soothing Daisuke’s concerns over messages. As well as being perfectly okay with catching up at the very next opportunity (literally the next day) to talk it out.

Of course, that didn’t make any of this any less embarrassing.

“I… _may_ have…maybe…kinda…kissed Ken…”

Taichi rubbed the bridge of his nose, letting out an exasperated sigh.

“Alright…well, you _definitely_ messed up there”

“ _I know that_!” Daisuke replied, “But I could help myself Taichi-senpai!”

Taichi just stared the teen down, a ‘seriously?’ look etched on his face. Daisuke pouted, folding his arms irritably as he looked away.

“Ken started it, he pinned me to the wall…”

“Wait…Ichijouji did what?” Taichi asked, looking confused “That sounds out of character”

“He just…wanted to talk and I didn’t so he pinned me to the wall to force me to talk to him…” Daisuke explained in a whisper.

“ _Oh_ ” Taichi chuckled, okay _that_ sounded like something Ken would do. Definitely only with Daisuke, but that made more sense than Ken just randomly pinning Daisuke to the wall “And you decided _kissing him_ was the appropriate response?”

“I just…” Daisuke sighed “Look, I didn’t exactly _think_ about it before I did it, I just…he called me by my first name and something just kinda snapped…”

Taichi nodded along, biting back the snarky comment he wanted to make about how Daisuke didn’t think about a lot of things, clearly his Kohai didn’t need _that_ right now. But he stowed the comment away for later, later Daisuke would likely be willing to have a laugh with him about it.

“Okay…and you _just_ kissed him? Because if it was just a kiss then…you could probably use this as a chance to _finally tell him!_ ”

“I mean…” Daisuke blushed deeply, looking down “I uh…it… _might_ have gotten _kinda heated_ ”

“How heated…?”

“I uh…kinda kissed him a couple times…and…uhm…” his voice went really quiet “I pinned him to the wall instead…”

Taichi blinked, numerous different responses floating in his mind, eventually he just bursts out laughing. Daisuke huffed looking offended.

“Taichi-senpai! You’re supposed to be helping, _not laughing_!”

“I know, I know I’m sorry!” Taichi laughed “I just…Daisuke, _how?!_ How did you guys go from practicing _a play_ to _making out?!_ ”

Daisuke made a loud flustered noise as he buried his bright red face in his hands. A muffled groan of ‘Taichi-senpai’ could be heard as he hid from the embarrassment.

“God, only you Daisuke” Taichi joked, patting him on the back gently “Only _you_ could do that…”

“Taichi!!” Daisuke shouted, more awkward than angry.

“Alright, alright. You want my advice?” Taichi started “Just _talk_ ”

“Yeah, okay. Talk to Ken about the fact I forcibly _kissed_ him!” Daisuke groaned again “He shoved me away…”

“Not a reaction I can blame” Taichi hummed, nodding along.

“…I probably messed up our friendship…”

Taichi face palmed. Hard.

“Motomiya Daisuke, for god sakes you are _by far_ the most _oblivious_ of the chosen children and that’s saying something when _I’m_ a chosen child” He commented, deciding that poking fun at himself might make Daisuke giggle.

It did. Daisuke snickered and covered his mouth, a cheeky grin slowly crossing his face.

“Seriously though, it is so obvious, _so obvious_ that you two are in love. Like jeez Daisuke, you spend nearly _every waking minute_ in contact with each other. You hold regular sleepovers and have done for _years_ now. You guys have the deepest Jogress connection of any of us by far!” Taichi ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head in disbelief “If you both weren’t such absolute dunces emotionally, one of you would’ve asked the other out _years ago_!”

Daisuke stared silently, before he looked down at his hands.

“You really think Ken feels the same way?”

“Yeah, I know he does. What confuses me is how the hell you _don’t_ know that!” Taichi chuckled.

“…So…what do I do?”

“Again. Talk. Talk to him, you can wait a while to let the situation settle a bit, but if you never talk about it…things will only get worse”

“…I just…you know I’m not…amazing with words…”

“Yeah, well lucky its Ichijouji huh?” Taichi added, ruffling up Daisuke’s hair a little “You guys hardly even _need_ words, look just promise me you’ll try to talk to him?”

“I…I’ll try Taichi-Senpai” Daisuke sighs “Thanks”

“No problem” he stands up and stretches “You know I’m always gonna be there if you need a hand Daisuke”

Daisuke nods, before staring back at the floor. He would need to think about how he was going to talk to Ken, what he was going to say…but for now, they both needed space…

Sucks that neither of them do ‘alone time’ well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much this time, but I was a bit stuck and just left it here ^^ Glad to finally update lol


End file.
